Landmark Supreme Court ruling: Free sanitary napkins and separate toilets mandatory in schools

A bench told states and Union Territories, irrespective of whether the schools are state-run or controlled, they will have to provide disabled-friendly toilets.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday held the right to menstrual health is a part of the right to life under the Constitution, as it directed all states and Union Territories to provide free oxo-biodegradable sanitary napkins to girl students and ensure functional, gender-segregated toilets for all the students.

In a landmark judgment to ensure gender justice and educational equity, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said time is over ripe that menstrual health is recognised as a shared responsibility rather than a woman's issue.

The court issued a slew of directions to all states and UTs to ensure that these facilities are provided in schools irrespective of whether they are government-run, aided or private.

The court warned of stringent consequences for non-compliance, including the de-recognition of private schools and holding state governments directly accountable for failures in public institutions.

“The right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to menstrual health; access to safe, effective and affordable menstrual hygiene management measures helps a girl child attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. The right to healthy reproductive life embraces the right to access education and information about sexual health,” Justice Pardiwala wrote for the bench.

With regard to the availability of menstrual absorbent, the court directed that all states and Union Territories to ensure that every school where the government-run or privately managed in both urban and rural areas provides oxo-biodegradable sanitary napkins free of cost.

The bench ordered that sanitary napkins would be made accessible to girl students, preferably within toilet premises, through vending machines, or, where such installation is not immediately visible, at a designated place or with a designated authority within schools.

The court also directed all states and UTs to ensure that every school is provided with the functional gender segregated toilets with usable water connectivity.

It said all the existing and newly constructed toilets in schools would be designed, constructed and maintained so as to ensure privacy and accessibility, including by catering to the needs of children with disabilities.

“All school toilets shall be equipped with functional hand washing facilities with soap and water available at all times,” it ordered.

The court ordered the Union government and all the states and UTs respectively to ensure that its directions are strictly complied with within a period of three months.

In its 126-page judgment on a plea filed by Jaya Thakur and others, the court said the right to education has been termed as a multiplier right as it enables the exercise of other human rights.

“The Right to Education (RTE) forms part of the broader framework of the right to life and human dignity, which cannot be realised without access to education,” the verdict said.

The substantive approach to equality under Article 14 demands that treatment be accorded with due regard to the individual, institutional, systemic and contextual barriers that impede the translation of rights in reality, it said, adding, “At the same time, the state, as a benefactor, is under an obligation to remedy such structural disadvantages”.

“Inaccessibility of menstrual hygiene management measures undermines the dignity of a girl child as dignity finds expression in conditions that enable individuals to leave without humiliation, exclusion or avoidable suffering,” it said.

The court said, privacy is inextricably linked with dignity. As a corollary, the right to privacy entails a duty on the State to not only refrain from violating privacy but an accompanying obligation on the State to take necessary measures to protect the privacy of an individual.